Heyeveryone

Im a collcege student from boston living in tampa. I wased my car today for the first time since thanksgiving. I had a few bugs onthe hood of my car so i purchased some turtle wax and ihad a little blemish on the hood above my headlight so i grabbed some rubbing compound to try and rub it out. after i did the bug wash irinsed the car and then used the rubbing compound on hte affected area. after the car completely dried the entire area (where most of the bugs were) looked faddedalmsot like when you wax the car but havent buffed the wax out. I panicked and re washed the car hoping i jsut ahd some residue left over but afer it was dry i could still see the clowdy looking paint!! what did i doo how can i fix it! please help

07 Audi a3 2.0t
lava grey

 

Did you wax it after using the rubbing compound? That sounds like what you need to do.

 

No i havent waxed it yet....It sucks being at school i ahve zero resources available.. The best i can do is one of my buddies has a house with a hose and car wash stuff. Id love to just send it in to get detailed but i fly home for christmas tomorrow kinda sucks my cars guana be stuck lookin like this all break...HaHa any one wanna take it and and fix her up for me???? anyone....

 

It's a simple fix. Wax the hood with the Turtle Wax that you already have or get a nice bottle of Mother's or McGuire's Wax. Or if you're on a budget, Eagle Black Magic liquid wax works well. The rubbing compound basically causes light scratching on the clearcoat to remove tree sap and oxidation from bugs and bird crap. It's the clearcoat that caused the hazing on your hood. Putting wax back on should bring the shine back.

Check the Detailing thread for more info by people who are more knowledgeable.

 

^ +1

You def need to use wax after using a rubbing compound.

 

+1

Rubbing compound dulls the paint because it is basically scratching the surface, waxing after the compound polishes it up. If it faded that much I'm assuming you used too high of a grit compound which caused it tonoticeably dull.

 

How often should I get my A3 waxed? I have had it for over a year and havent waxed it once

 

For me, I wax my cars around twice a year. You can generally tell if your car needs to be waxed when you wash it, the water doesn't sheet off or bead nicely like it does after you wax it. The great thing is, the A3 is fairly easy to wax because its so small.

 

Wax your car as much as you want. But only use some kind of compound two or three times a year to clean the paint and a clay bar once or twice a year. I wax my car religiously, probably about once or twice a month with just pure wax without a cleaner in it, just keeps it shinny and looking good. At least wax two or three times a year to protect the paint.

 

Yeah...I wax my car every two weeks...well...I don't ...but the car washing guys do! It keeps it shiny and helps protect against acid rain and birdie droppings! (though in Chinese they say if your car gets bird poo...it's a very lucky thing!) So next time a bird poos on your A3...try to find the bright side!

Hope you get your car polished back up to shine! It hurts to be trying to improve something and have the results turn out worse than the original problem, but I'm sure it's just a minor thing! (Unlike my baby that got dinged by a car door yesterday...just above the rear tire...can only see it if you REALLY look...but still think I will get it fixed.

Too much love for my A3!